He grasped the dead woman’s jaw and attempted to move it. It was rigid. He lifted an arm, which moved with only minimal resistance, and let it go. It flopped to the bed. Follett nodded and grunted to himself.
“I’d say she’s been dead four to six hours since rigor is full-blown in the jaw, but not in the larger muscles. She probably died around dawn this morning. We’ll get body and room temperatures for verification.”
He nodded to Madeline who began rummaging in a black equipment case for the thermometer they would use to take a rectal temperature. Since a body normally lost one to two degrees an hour, depending on external conditions, they would be able to further narrow down the time of death. But Jen knew that the only way to pinpoint the time to the exact minute was to witness it. The best the coroner could do was a time range.
“Judging from the lack of bruising around the thighs,” Follett continued, “I would guess that she was not sexually assaulted. But, of course, I can’t say for certain till I do the autopsy.”
“Soon, I hope?” Lonnie said.
“This afternoon. You’ll have the report on your desk first thing in the morning. I’ll call you with a verbal when I’m done, unless one of your detectives would like to observe.”
“Someone will be there.”
Follett nodded. The coroner was crisp and businesslike. With his gray hair and regal bearing, he could have been an academic discussing some obscure text or scientific theory rather than the horrific murder of a young woman. Jen envied him his detachment.
The detectives returned to the living room while the coroner and his people completed their examination and evidence collection. Then Pat and Al assisted in placing Victoria Kaufmann into a body bag and transferring it to the van belonging to the coroner’s office.
A small crowd of neighbors had gathered in the yards, and the first reporters had shown up. They had been unable to get past Bill and Nola, but as the cot moved from the house to the waiting van, they flashed pictures of the body bag covered with a sheet. Several tried to get a statement from Dr. Follett, but he told them in a reasonably polite way not to bother him, and the coroner’s van drove off.
Lonnie spoke briefly with the reporters, advising them that Chief Buchan would make a statement later in the day or early the next morning. Jen smiled at her sergeant’s tact. He knew not to steal the chief’s thunder.
O’Neill packed his gear, and Nola and Bill locked the house. No unauthorized persons would be permitted on the premises until the detectives and the coroner were certain there was nothing more to be found. Nola and Bill would stand watch until off-duty officers could be called in on overtime to relieve them.
As they walked to their cars, Jen saw Hank’s cruiser turn onto the street. Lonnie turned to her.
“I’m going to notify her parents. Hank’s going with me, so I’ll ride with him in his cruiser.”
“I didn’t even think to ask,” Jen said, ashamed of herself. “How much family did she have?”
“Mother and father. Live in the county, out on Cooper Road. Hank located their address before we got here. According to a neighbor, the ex-husband, Larry Kaufmann, is a welder and works second shift at Hightower Safe in Jefferson. Lives in Jefferson, too. The neighbor says Kaufmann and the victim got divorced because he was playing around with some nurse and got her pregnant.”
He fiddled in his shirt pocket for a moment, then handed Jen a piece of paper.
“Hawkins found his address on the divorce papers in a drawer in the kitchen. The neighbor says he and the nurse got married just as soon as the divorce was final. I want you and Al to run up there and notify him before he goes to work. Pump him a little, too, find out where he was last night. We need to cover the bases, although I doubt that he’s our man.”
“I’d like to go along, if you don’t mind,” Will said.
“No problem.” Lonnie thought for a second and then began to smile. Something told Jen she wasn’t going to like what he was about to say.
“I tell you what, why don’t you run on up to Jefferson with Jen, and Al can head on down to the coroner’s with Don here and observe the autopsy. Might be a good idea to split you two fellows up anyway, team you up with our people so you can cover more ground.”
“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea,” Jen sputtered. “I’m sure Agent Anderson has things he’d rather do than death notifications.”
“On the contrary,” Will said. “I think your sergeant has the right idea pairing us up.”
Will and Lonnie were grinning at one another in male understanding. One day, Jen thought, I will kill my boss. It will make the national news, and people will theorize that the stresses of police work caused me to snap and do such a horrible thing. They’ll never guess the real cause.
She vowed to get Lonnie aside before the day was over and have a talk with him—and maybe save his life and keep herself out of prison.
“You take our car, Will.” Don handed the keys to him. “I’ll go with Al.”
Hawkins did not seem to pick up on what was going on any more than Al did. It was her misfortune that Lonnie had been looking at Will that morning in the conference room. She knew it wouldn’t be long before the whole department was aware of the sparks between her and the agent. Lonnie couldn’t claim secret-keeping as one of his strong points, and even Jamie, who was one of her best friends, couldn’t be trusted to keep her mouth shut.
Well, let them talk and tease all they want, she thought. There’s not going to
